Some mobile devices provide a map application which can use positioning technology to determine a user's current geographic location and display a map with an icon to show the user's current location. Map and other information (e.g., points of interest) can be provided by a map service in communication with the mobile device. Some map services can provide panorama views of certain user specified street locations. A map service may also provide a user with directions to a desired destination and present a route to the destination on the map.
Panoramic views of a street location are helpful in providing users with a sense of the actual environment surrounding the street location. This is useful when a user is physically present in an area near the street location. The panoramic images may help the user identify landmarks and find their bearings on the street. However, it is easy to lose one's sense of direction when looking at a panoramic image because the field of view in a panoramic image is relatively limited. Furthermore, transitions from location to location, or direction to direction in the panoramic view can be jagged due to the limited picture frames available between locations or between directions. In addition, there is a conceptual disconnect between a 2D street map that offers a 2D abstraction of the streets seen from above and a 3D view of the surrounding environment of a location on the street map. It is conceptually difficult for a user to link the 2D street grid around a location on a 2D street map to the buildings and streets in a street panorama.
Conventional methods for displaying panoramic images provide a street panorama inside a window laid on top of a street map, such that a portion of the street map showing the street location of the panorama can be identified by a placemark. As the street panorama for a first location is changed into the street panorama of a second location, the placemark on the street map can be updated accordingly.
Having an underlying street map with a placemark indicating the current location associated with the street panorama on display helps a user to reorient themselves within a panorama to a limited extent. For example, “jumps” from location to location in the panoramic view window can be tracked by the movement of the placemark in the underlying street map. However, this method of using a reference map outside the panorama does not provide information regarding the direction or angular extent of the field of view. Users still may easily lose their bearings in the panoramas. Furthermore, without a smooth transition between the street view and the panoramic view, users may struggle with identifying the correct landmarks in the panoramas to help them re-orient themselves and find their bearings.
The conventional methods for facilitating users finding their orientations require screen space to accommodate both the street panorama and the underlying reference street map. In mobile devices where screen space is limited, it is desirable to allocate as much space as possible to the panorama when a user enters the panorama view.
Conventional methods deal with the no-data situation by preventing users from entering the panoramic views of locations where no panoramic data is available. Sometimes, when a user does navigate to a location where no panoramic data is available, error messages would be displayed, and a smooth navigation experience is destroyed.